Monster House

I'm not a scary movie person but I thought "how scary could a kid's movie be right?"  It turns out that a kid's movie can be pretty scary! 

As Halloween draws near three friends are determined to uncover the secrets of the creepy house in their neighbourhood.  Their detective works leads them to uncover more than they bargained for.  Fear not dear parent, all is well that ends well but it is not without it's jump scares and creepy as moments.

 The CGI is not all that good but we got drawn into the story and atmosphere of the movie and didn't notice it after a while.

Rating: Monster House was a good movie and there was no way we saw the ending coming but it is not for the faint hearted.  We will probably watch it again sometime in the future for a few thrills around Halloween.

Naughty bits: If you and your older (10+) child enjoy scary things then you will like Monster House but your kid has to be a brave soul because this movie is seriously creepy!  Definitely NOT suitable for younger and sensitive children as they will have nightmares.  Monster House is rated PG but it's bordering on 13+.

Snacks: Individually wrapped candy

Family In-quotes: "Relax. Just be cool, like me"

Related Goodies:
Other kid's movies which turned out to be WAY more creepy than advertised:
Coraline
The Polar Express

Incredibles 2

Some have argued that the golden age of Pixar is over and judging by their latest sequels (bar Toy Story 3) you would be inclined to agree.  So it was with a little trepidation that we took the morning off these school holidays to see Incredibles 2.  Would it disappoint like the Cars series?  Or would it pleasantly surprise us like Toy Story 3?

 Well... it lived up to it's name baby!  Incredibles 2 is pretty incredible.  A good story, great characters and plenty of action make for a great follow up to one of our favourite family movies.  Incredibles 2 picks up where part 1 left off and follows the family as they navigate politics, math and Jack Jack's new powers (OK spoiler alert but it's in the trailers!).

As we walked into the cinema there were multiple warnings that the film contains flashing sequences which could trigger epilepsy or sensory conditions and they are to be taken seriously!  This film is pretty full on and if the flashing sequences don't trigger your kid then the non-stop action may do.  However we loved the world of the Incredibles and the production design of part 2 is so cool.  I also want to live in a futuristic 1960's with today's modern technology!

Rating: We really enjoyed Incredibles 2 and will definitely watch it again when it hits digital release.  The chemistry between the family members is so spot on and makes you want to be one of Bob and Helen's kids just to be a part of it.

Naughty bits: See trigger warning above plus there is HEAPS of fighting in this movie.  More than the previous one!  Also a couple of sequences of sinister looking characters so I don't think Incredibles 2 is suitable for very young or sensitive children.  My youngest at 5years loved it but she is not sensitive at all LOL

Snacks: Chocolate chip cookies

Family In-quotes: "Num num, cookie!"

Related Goodies:
The Incredibles original movie.  ESSENTIAL viewing!

Shaun the Sheep

There is something magical about clay-mation and the best studio in the world is UK based Aardman Animation.  They started producing the Shaun the Sheep TV series in 2007 and by 2015 it was popular enough that they made a movie.



Shaun the sheep is the clever leader of a rag-tag flock of sheep on a farm in the rolling countryside of rural England.  Through a series of mishaps the sheep cause their farmer to end up in the big city with amnesia and they take it upon themselves to rescue him. 

Like all Aardman productions the animation is incredible and the gadgets are outrageous.  The plot is pretty simple but it moves at a good pace and there are moments of humour throughout to keep things fun.


Rating: Although we enjoyed Shaun the Sheep we probably won't watch the movie again.  But it did wet our appetite for the TV series and other Aardman movies (The Curse of the Were-Rabbit). 

Naughty bits: Shaun the Sheep was as clean as the farmers house BEFORE the pigs got in and suitable for even younger viewers.  The animal catcher is a bit scary but only if you are a pre-schooler.

Snacks: Candy Floss

Family In-quotes: Ummm there is no dialog in this movie!!!!!

Related Goodies:
Wallace and Gromit

2017 TV Overview

 Shows we watched this year

Avatar: The Last Airbender
This 3 season series from the early 2000's is one of our all time favourites and one we love to re-watch time and time again.  The three seasons tell one long story so you can't jump in or stop at one season but you need to see them all to get the full picture.  It's hard to find but in NZ it's available on Neon. 

Aang, the main character, is the Avatar; a human with a mystical connection to the spirit world.  He is charged with bringing peace and balance to the world and is befriended by two other teens who together try to fulfil his destiny in a time of great war and chaos in the world. 

The world of Avatar is very different to ours; people are gifted with "bending" in which they can manipulate objects and also the physical world can be invaded by mystical spirit creatures.  The worldview of the Avatar world is loosely based on Eastern philosophies like Shinto and Buddism which can be jarring if you come from a Judaism/Christianity worldview but the larger themes of friendship, love conquering hate and overcoming prejudice which are extolled in Avatar are things all worldviews can embrace and agree with.

The characters in Avatar are developed deeply, the action and suspense are exciting and the humour is fun.  However for the philosophical reasons above, and quite a bit of violence I would recommend Avatar for older kids.  But whatever you do, don't watch the movie (everyone who has seen it agrees it is terrible).

Rebels - season 4
Star Wars Rebels continued to be great in season 4.  This is the final season of a great series and one that has had us on the edge of seat and smiling at the same time.  I'm not sure where it will be available once Disney XD stops airing it (and DVD's are becoming a thing of the past) but if you can find it, it will be worth your while.



Voltron - season 2, 3 and 4
We had a big wait for season 2 of Voltron and it was worth it.  So exciting and the characters are well developed now with great chemistry between them.  The story is complex but there is enough going on that even younger viewers have enough to stay captivated.  Seasons 3 and 4 came out sooner and were shorter which Netflix did deliberately so we didn't have to wait so long (thank you!!).  Season 4 has been pretty wacky but so much fun!

Bravest Warriers
Back in 2010 a surreal TV series called Adventure Time hit our screens and we were entertained and disturbed in equal measure.  After a couple of years the creator, Pendleton Ward, launched another show, this time on YouTube called Bravest Warriers.  It's in a similar style to Adventure Time but set in space.  A cast of wacky characters and equally wacky plot devices make for an entertaining and again, slightly disturbing time.  It's not really a show made for kids but it's so bizarre that they will enjoy it as much as you. 
   
Miraculous Ladybug
We have girl kids in our house and the younger one is as girly as they come.  Favourite colour: pink, favourite animal: cats, favourite item of clothing: pink frilly skirt/dress.  So when we discovered Miraculous Ladybug on Netflix she was hooked. Ladybug has everything a girly girl loves: pink clothing, a cute mini creature friend, a larger cat hero, and crushing... lots of crushing; buildings, cars, buses, but mostly of the love variety.

Marinette is a clumsy but lovable teen who is given a mystical gift where she can transform into a powerful ladybug themed hero who teems up with the mysterious Cat Noir (the cat hero).  The twist is that Cat Noir is actually her real life high school crush Adrian.  Every episode follows a similar format but there is a larger storyline going on the background through the season.

This French animated series is being slowly dubbed into english so only season 1 is available but kid 2 is eagerly waiting for season 2 having seen the first episodes multiple times.  We have also been sucked into the ladybug universe as it's pretty funny and exciting (the first time).

Axe Cop
A few years ago my hub found a web comic series called Axe Cop.  The series was a collaboration between a 20 something comic artist and his younger brother, age 5.  The younger brother came up with the story ideas and the artist finessed the ideas and drew them up.  It took a corner of the internet by storm and it was a big enough corner that it was made into a TV series. 

Axe Cop is very bizarre and hilarious!  But also incredibly, cartoonishly violent... so not suitable for younger kids - more for tweens/teens I would say.  I include it because if you are looking for a series to watch with your teens that they won't turn their noses up and you don't mind some blood and guts then you will love Axe Cop.  Axe Cop is available on FXX in the States but you might find it online somewhere if you are outside the USA (wink).

Studio Ghibli Weekend: My Neighbour Totoro

On Friday night we watched Princess Mononoke with kid 1 so on Saturday afternoon we thought we could show kid 2 some Studio Ghibli magic too.  We chose My Neighbour Totoro for its sweet and innocent look at childhood in rural Japan/Ghibliland.


Satsuki and her little sister Mei move to the countryside to be closer to their mother who is in hospital.  They discover all kinds of magical and mysterious spirit creatures live in and around their old farmhouse and they befriend them.  And in return Totoro (the largest and cuddliest of the creatures) and his friends help Satsuki and Mei in their time of need.

Rating: My Neighbour Totoro is a very simple and slow moving story.  Suitable for a 4 year old who needs some down time on a lazy weekend afternoon.  The older members of the family found it too slow but we enjoyed having it on in the background and watching the occasional snippet of Cat Bus or Totoro.  Kid 2 wanted to watch it again the next day and we wouldn't object to her having a repeat viewing.  Except that now she wants a Totoro soft toy... of course!

Naughty bits: Cat Bus is a little scary/creepy at first so if your child is sensitive then My Neighbour Totoro is best left on the shelf till they are older but our 4 year old was not worried at all.  Other than that Totoro is as clean as your house once you have cleaned out all the soot sprites.

Snacks: Corn on the cob

Family In-quotes: "Come out, come out, where ever you are!"

Related Goodies:
Cat Buses in real life
Cat Bus Rail Puzzle Game

Studio Ghibli Weekend: Princess Mononoke

My husband and I first watched Princess Mononoke in our mid 20's Anime phase.  It's a phase that we've not really grown out of to be honest but the volume of consumption has definitely dwindled this side of parenthood.  As Studio Ghibli is one of the more broad audience orientated studios we thought Princess Mononoke would be a good introduction to Anime's often unique form of storytelling for our children so we sat kid 1 down one Friday night so see how it would go down.  She loved it!  We however, didn't find it quite as satisfying the second time around although Studio Ghibli always have a certain magical quality to their productions.


Princess Mononoke follows the adventures of Ashitaka as he travels far from his homeland to find the cure for his curse from the legendary Forest Spirit.  When he arrives in the western forest he finds himself caught up in the battle between the ambitious humans and the disturbed forest creatures led by the beautiful Princess Mononoke and he struggles to help them both live together in peace. 

Rating: We enjoyed the film but we [the parents] probably won't bother seeing it again.  However kid 1 liked it more and would see it again.  The theme of environmentalism is a bit belaboured but it gives a good opportunity for discussion afterward.


Naughty bits: Princess Mononoke is on the more mature end of Ghibli productions.  There is quite a bit of gore and violence and plenty of weird blobby creatures.  This really is for older children or teenagers because the likelihood of nightmares and awkward conversations are rather high if your kids are sensitive or younger than double digits.  The language is mostly clean though and there is not really any sexual content.

If you are unfamiliar with Anime or Japanese film-making you need to be aware that their spiritual outlook is quite different to traditional Western spirituality and this heavily influences the content of their films.  This is fine if you are happy to introduce your kids to different worldviews and perspectives but parents who are unaware of this may find it unsettling.

Snacks: Blue Jelly and marshmellows

Family In-quotes: "Ugh, I smell like a human"

Related Goodies:
Studio Ghibli Museum

Moana

Disney have a tradition of putting out a kids movie every Boxing Day.  We have a tradition of seeing said movie the day after.  This year was the release of Moana starring The Rock as Maui, the demi god of Pacific Island/Maori legend.  We didn't really know that much about Moana before going and to be honest we weren't that excited about it either but tradition is traditionally something you keep so... nah it also looked like a fun way to fill in a holiday morning.
 
Well, we were very pleasantly surprised.  You might say that Disney has done it again!  And not since Frozen have I had so many short song snippets stuck in my head for so long.  "So shiny..."  But I think Moana is better that Frozen so don't let my mention of the F word put you off!

Moana tells the story of a young woman who, as daughter of the village chief, is destined to lead the next generation of her people however she yearns (like Belle before her) for something more.  For Moana that is to explore the great wide open [sea].  She discovers that in fact the sea has chosen her for a special mission to rescue the world from a coming darkness.  To do this she must enlist the help of Maui, a task much easier said than done.  I would say more but that would be a major plot spoiler!

Rating: We loved Moana!  Especially kid 2 who is the perfect age (4) for a Disney princess movie.  We now hear random lines and songs from the movie throughout the day and she dresses like Moana as much as possible.  Yep she has definitely moved on from Anna and Elsa.  Moana is a very strong and feisty gal but has a caring heart and is great role model for little girls everywhere.  The Pacific Island imagery is beautiful and moved me to tears, Hei Hei [the chicken] cracked us up and the songs help to tell the story which we always appreciate. "So shiny..."

Naughty bits: Moana is as clean as her world's oceans but there are some scary bits which would frighten younger kids so check the IMDB parents guide and know your kid's limits before you take them.  Our kid went a second time with her friend and was fine but her friend was not and had to leave a couple of times in tears.

Snacks: Coconut in all it's delicious forms, Bounty bar anyone?

Family In-quotes: "You're Welcome!"

Related Goodies:
The Maui legends compiled into one epic hardback book (every Kiwi kid needs this!)

Chicken Run

It was another rainy Saturday afternoon so we decided to settle in for a movie as a family including No.2 this time.  Chicken Run sounded interesting and was made by the Aardman folks (famous for Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep) so we were excited.  But things sort of petered out from there. 



Chicken Run is a retelling of The Great Escape which is a great concept but the story and wartime in-jokes were lost on the kids and they were kind of bored by the end although there were plenty of visual gags to amuse from time to time.  We did enjoy the bad end that came to the antagonists but it felt like it took a long time getting there and the chemistry between the two leads was flighty.

Rating: It was an original concept but they somehow didn't quite pull it off.  We will definitely keep re-watching Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep but won't be watching this one again.

Naughty bits: The dogs could be frightening to very small children but the rest is as clean as Fowler's hut.

Snacks: Chicken Pie

Family In-quotes: "Why, back in my RAF days..."

Related Goodies:
Wallace & Gromit
Shaun the Sheep
The true story of The Great Escape

Finding Dory

We were pretty excited to see what Pixar would do with the sequel to Finding Nemo so we got ourselves off to the movies one chilly Friday night.

Finding Dory is about Dory (duh) and her mission to find her family in the hope she will discover where she belongs.  Marlin and Nemo chase her through many obstacles (and Finding Nemo references) on her journey hoping to convince her to come "home" again.  *Plot Spoiler*  It all works out alright in the end and they make more new friends along the way.

How did we find it though?  Well a little bit boring unfortunately.  Number 2 kid got a bit fidgety in the middle until the final action sequence and number 1 kid said she was a bit bored.  I think it was that there were too many emotional scenes between action scenes and that made it seem longer than it really was.  I also found it a little disturbing as a parent (Dory is a "missing child") as have other adults I spoke to about it.  So trigger warning if you are a parent of disabled (or not) kids, or you have memory issues.

Rating: We would rate this a watch once movie and we will go back to the classic (Finding Nemo) for our Dory fixes.

Naughty bits: No naughty bits but there is one scary scene involving a large squid so for younger viewers or sensitive kids they may want to cover their eyes for that one.


Snacks: Goldfish crackers (if you live in the States)

Family In-quotes: "Just keep swimming"

Related Goodies:
This real life circular fish tank

Zootopia

We were so excited about this coming out that we had to go to the movies on the first Friday it was on.  And seeing as it's still playing in theaters I'll try not to spoil it too much for ya.

Zootopia tells the story of an enthusiastic bunny who achieves her dream to work as a cop in the big city before getting caught up in a mystery much bigger than she ever could imagine.  You would think that the moral of the story would be the usual Disney "believe in yourself" but refreshingly it doesn't go there but points to something deeper and more meaningful.  I won't say anymore except to say it's worth finding out for yourself.

The production design (it's a cartoon) is amazing; super colourful and jam packed with seemingly endless detail.  Disney have created a world I want to visit so bad!

Rating: We will definitely see/buy this when it comes out on dvd/internet buy.  If you remembered liking the classic "who done it" detective stories (Agatha Christie etc) then you will like Zootopia.  The plot is very much a guessing game of who done it, there are plenty of good jokes and the character development is really good too.  Repeated viewing for us.


Naughty bits: The movie is as clean as Judy Hopp's uniform but there are some scary and jumpy animal moments for sure.  Think the hyenas from The Lion King but more snarly.  We took our 3 1/2 year old and she had to tell herself to be brave but she pushed through the pain because she was enjoying it so much.  If you have kids which are sensitive about that sort of thing then they will hate it.

Snacks: Ice blocks

Family In-quotes: "You know you love me"

Related Goodies:
That amazing "Weaselton" reference from Frozen
Super cute cosplay